For a quarter-century, Democratic presidential candidates relied on a blue wall of Midwestern and Rust Belt states that delivered electoral votes on a regular basis. Then Donald Trump smashed that wall, winning states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Now, those same states, along with perpetual swing states, are battlegrounds in a different fight — electing governors.
House lawmakers are poised to question Peter Strzok on Thursday in what is sure to be a lengthy, tense standoff between Republicans and the FBI agent who once worked on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference.
House Democrats are struggling to show a united front as the shocking ouster of their Caucus chairman rekindles tensions about the future of the party — and who is best suited to lead it into the crucial 2020 cycle.
Energized by the constant turmoil surrounding the Trump administration, Democrats of all stripes are bullish about their chances of flipping the House in this year's midterm elections. And the last thing they want is a nasty internal leadership fight heading into November.
Yet last month's stunning primary defeat of Rep. Joseph Crowley (N.Y.), the Democratic chairman, to a young liberal activist with no political experience, has created an unexpected void in the higher ranks of the party; injected new life into the longstanding campaign for fresher faces at the leadership table; and sparked a renewed interest in insurgent challenges to the current party brass.
